This nonsense of sending passports is just ridiculous. Users don't want to send it, and websites don't want to have them - it just makes them a bigger target for these kinds of hacks. Luckily the EU is working on a better solution to this that works on a zero-knowledge principle. Meaning the website doesn't get to know who you are, and the government doesn't know who's asking. If you're going to need age verification (I don't like it, but I also agree it's inevitable for some things), this is a much, much less stupid way to go about it.

yeah that's grim

Best option is to stay watchful and get more educated, I guess. One never knows when it's your turn to pull a switch.

Considering how they're now preventing cmxt from selling to the global north; it seems that the prices will fall fastest the further from the anglosphere you get